Wofford fullback repeats as Southern Conference Player of Year, leaves Elon receiver second

By Adam Smith / Times-News

Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 12:27 AM.

Wofford fullback Eric Breitenstein repeated as Offensive Player of the Year for Southern Conference football Tuesday.

Breitenstein, picked for the honor in voting by both the league’s coaches and media members, became the fourth player in conference history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons.

And that meant he denied Elon University receiver Aaron Mellette again.

Mellette, a senior who delivered another prolific season of production, finished as the runner-up to Breitenstein, a senior, in the coaches’ voting for the second time in as many years.

Breitenstein rushed for 1,653 yards and 16 touchdowns to rank first in the league and third in the Football Championship Subdivision in those categories. In September, he piled up a Southern Conference single-game record by running for 321 yards in a rout of Elon.

After a first-round bye this weekend, Wofford (8-3 overall, 6-2 league) continues its season Dec. 1 against New Hampshire in the FCS playoffs.

Elon (3-8, 1-7) ended its season last week. Mellette remained a bright spot, leading the league and ranking second in the FCS with 97 catches and 1,398 receiving yards. He hauled in 18 touchdown receptions, one shy of the Southern Conference single-season record held by Randy Moss.

Wofford fullback Eric Breitenstein repeated as Offensive Player of the Year for Southern Conference football Tuesday.

Breitenstein, picked for the honor in voting by both the league’s coaches and media members, became the fourth player in conference history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons.

And that meant he denied Elon University receiver Aaron Mellette again.

Mellette, a senior who delivered another prolific season of production, finished as the runner-up to Breitenstein, a senior, in the coaches’ voting for the second time in as many years.

Breitenstein rushed for 1,653 yards and 16 touchdowns to rank first in the league and third in the Football Championship Subdivision in those categories. In September, he piled up a Southern Conference single-game record by running for 321 yards in a rout of Elon.

After a first-round bye this weekend, Wofford (8-3 overall, 6-2 league) continues its season Dec. 1 against New Hampshire in the FCS playoffs.

Elon (3-8, 1-7) ended its season last week. Mellette remained a bright spot, leading the league and ranking second in the FCS with 97 catches and 1,398 receiving yards. He hauled in 18 touchdown receptions, one shy of the Southern Conference single-season record held by Randy Moss.

Wilson, a senior, led the league with 3,149 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. He completed more than 65 percent of his passes and reduced his interceptions to 10 this season after being picked off 23 times last year.

Ward, a senior, started all of Elon’s 11 games. Spain, a sophomore, collected 120 tackles, the second-best total in the conference.

Shreiner, a senior, led the league with 16 field goals and an accuracy rate of 72.7 percent. He went 27-for-27 on point-after kicks.

Elon running back Tracey Coppedge landed a spot on the all-freshman offense, a team picked by the coaches.

Among the Southern Conference’s other headlining award winners, the media picked Chattanooga defensive end Davis Tull as Defensive Player of the Year, Appalachian State receiver Sean Price as Freshman of the Year and The Citadel’s Kevin Higgins as Coach of the Year.

Tull, a sophomore, registered 12.5 sacks and 18.5 tackles for lost yardage, essentially lapping the field in those categories.

Price, who has played in nine of Appalachian State’s 11 games, led all freshmen in the FCS with 68 catches, 1,029 yards and eight touchdowns. The Mountaineers (8-3, 6-2) play host to Illinois State on Dec. 1 in the FCS playoffs.

Higgins picked up his first league Coach of the Year honor after guiding Citadel (7-4, 5-3) to its most conference victories since 1992. Along the way, the Bulldogs pulled off shocking upsets of Georgia Southern and Appalachian State on consecutive weekends, and climbed as high as No. 10 in the FCS polls.

In the coaches’ all-league voting, Tull and Appalachian State linebacker Jeremy Kimbrough shared the Defensive Player of the Year award. Kimbrough, a senior, led the league with 128 tackles. He’s the 10th Appalachian State defender to earn a piece of that honor since its introduction in 1989.

The Southern Conference coaches chose Higgins and Samford’s Pat Sullivan as co-winners of the Coach of the Year award. That also marked Sullivan’s first league Coach of the Year honor. He steered Samford (7-4, 5-3) to its best record since joining the conference in 2008. Samford moved into the FCS national rankings for the first time since 1995 after four straight victories to open the season.